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Using Precise Language

One way that you can provide students with guidance as they prepare to begin their drafting is to ensure that you’re using the most precise language possible in your prompt and rubric when you describe your expectations.

Phrases like “paper is well-written” might mean one of many things. Could one or more of the following be a more precise description? Please feel free to include or adapt these sentences in your assignment prompts, rubrics, or peer reviews.

Describing Organization

Ideas and paragraphs are organized logically.

Author follows the appropriate organization for the genre.

Author includes a thesis that is concise, original, significant, and debatable.

The thesis is backed with several supporting claims.

The supporting claims are backed with evidence.

Author uses appropriate subheadings.

Each paragraph is unified by a single idea.

Each paragraph includes a topic sentence articulating that idea.

Author uses transitions that explain the relationship between the thesis & the topic sentence.